Turkey: a stable school system
By John Marenic
Graphic courtesy of C. Tiberio
Turkey, although dealing with many internal political issues, has a stable and similar school system to many countries around the world.
The country of Turkey is unlike any other in today’s times dealing with a recent coup d'etat and the election of President Erdoğan. Through all these issues, Turkey is still able to maintain a school system. The Charger got a chance to speak to Turkish college freshman, Goksel Kocadağ, about his high school experience in Turkey.
The Turkish school system is vastly similar to the US school system in that an average student spends 12 years in school, graduating high school at age 18. At which point a student will usually enroll in college or take another year in high school to get into college. The Turkish school system sounds familiar until Kocadağ brings up the ÖSYS-- translated to english as the University Entrance Exam. “The main source of stress in a student comes from the University Entrance Exam,” Kocadağ says.
The ÖSYS is a two part test which takes a huge toll on a student’s stress levels. The first test is made to see if a student can pass, while the second one will place a student in a respective college. This is why if a student does not enter college after high school they will usually retake their 12th grade. You need a good score to get into the colleges of your choice.
A student must choose a list of 18 colleges and majors that they would like to enter into; based on your score, the school system will choose what you study. Your major can not be changed later, so it all comes down to the University Entrance Exam. This demonstrates the high stress levels created by this exam system.
Both men and women can attend college, but males who attend must spend a year in the military while women begin their work. If a man chooses not to attend college, he must enroll in the military for 18 months.
Overall, Kocadağ believes that the school system of Turkey is not the best. He states “The school system is constantly changing which makes it hard”. He also believes that a student’s future relies heavily on their high school education. When asked if he believes that people generally succeed in their school system, he says “that depends”. In Turkey, the fate of your career rests on many variables, so all Kocadağ can do is work hard and hope.
The Turkish school system is
vastly similar to the US school system in that an average student spends 12 years in school.
If a man chooses not to attend college, he must enroll in the military for 18 months.
The ÖSYS is a two part test which takes
a huge toll on a student’s stress levels
Image courtesy of creative commons license CCO. FotoKritik.
Kocadağ poses for photo. Image courtesy of Z. Marenic.
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The Charger, December 2017
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